Merry Christmas!

Good Sunday evening!

I cannot believe another Christmas is almost "finished." You don't want to blink between Thanksgiving Night and Christmas Eve or you will most definitely miss something.

When I was a child, it was so easy to have the Christmas excitement 24/7. It came very naturally. At 50 years of age, the excitement can some times give way to Christmas stress... or sadness... or "I miss when the kids were little."

I worked very, very hard to try to remember to live in the moment this Christmas. Was every single day this season filled with excitement and squeals of delight? Uh, nope.

But I have some wonderful Christmas memories. Yes, I do.

1. Sitting arm-in-arm with Mikie at the Alabama Theater watching Home Alone, eating popcorn and sharing a Coke. (Roxie and friends didn't want to sit with us... and we were fine with that!)

2. Mikie buying a pre-lit tree for my living room. Decorating has never been easier.

3. Walking to the mailbox every single day to get "you know what!"

4. Wrapping presents ahead of time so I didn't have to stay up late Christmas Eve!

5. Sitting with my entire family at the Christmas Eve Service and singing Christmas carols together. Priceless!

6. Watching three year-old Matthew pass out gifts at Grandma's house. He was so excited and happy that everyone had a gift or two.

7. Holding Baby Lauren for very long periods of time and just soaking in all of her "new baby" goodness... and LOVING her "My First Christmas" outfit.

8. Eating Chinese Chicken Christmas Eve with The Faulkner Five and Melia. Lots of laughing and talking.

9. Watching 21 people get baptized at our church this morning... again sitting with the entire family. How wonderful to be baptized on such a special day.

10. Spending time with my side of the family this afternoon, and watching how excited the guys were with the cowboy boots Grandmother gave them for Christmas. There was a lot of heavy-steppin' in Trussville today as they tried to
"break the boots in."

I could go on and on (Christmas parties, Christmas teas, etc.), but it's only 5:51 p.m. and we're going to eat cereal for dinner... and watch Christmas Wipeout. (We taped it for just such a special occasion as this!)

I hope you made some wonderful Christmas memories these last few days.

I'll be back in the morning with Mindless Monday... lots and lots of pictures which will tell our weekend story.

Take care, and I'll talk to you in the morning!

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda